Hyun Jin Moon

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Hyun Jin "Preston" Moon (Born 4/10/1969), is the third son of Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han. He is married to Jun Sook Kwak (Born 12/24/1967), daughter of Unification Church leader Chung Hwan Kwak, through an arranged marriage on March 31, 1987. They have eight children.

After Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon's oldest son Hyo Jin Moon manifested long-term problems with substance abuse, infidelity, and violence,[1] and after Heung Jin Moon (the second oldest son) died in 1984,[2] Hyun Jin Moon - the next oldest living son - became widely expected to become Rev. Moon's next-generation successor.[3] He has already assumed a number of top leadership positions.

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[edit] Education

He is a graduate of Columbia University, and holds Masters degrees from Harvard Business School (1998) and the Unification Theological Seminary. Church publications refer to him as "Dr. Hyun Jin Moon"; this honorary title was bestowed on him by Sun Moon University in Korea.

[edit] Olympic participant

He participated in the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics as a member of the Korean equestrian team (1988 and 1992).

[edit] Leadership positions

He has been the leader of various businesses founded by Rev. Moon. He became the Vice-President of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) in 1998, and President of World CARP in March 2000. In 2006, he became President of the Youth Federation for World Peace, and that same year he was named President of Unification Church International by its board.

[edit] Criticism

[edit] Violence

Hyun Jin Moon has been criticized for committing[4] and condoning[5] violence. Long time church leader Dan Fefferman points out:

I realize that the use of violence by the African Heung Jin has been condoned even lately by Church leaders. (Rev. Moon's living son Hyun Jin, for example, stated that: "When Heung Jin Nim came in the black brother's body, you thought 'that can't be Heung Jin Nim.' And some of you were upset about him beating you... If I got hit by Heung Jin Nim, I would say 'great.' Physical pain will go away. But the failures you have in life could stay with you for eternity.")[6] "Tough Love," it is said, sometimes requires strong discipline. The fact remains, however, that if the principle of institutionalized violence - even in the name of True Love - is left unchallenged, we are leaving a very dangerous precedent for future generations.[7]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hong, Nansook. (1998). In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family. Little, Brown. (ISBN 0-316-34816-3)
  2. ^ Moon's Son, 17, Dies After a Car Accident. AP story, January 3, 1984. Accessed Saturday, August 19, 2006 from the New York Times Archives.
  3. ^ From the Unification Church to the Unification Movement, 1994-1999: Five Years of Dramatic Changes by Massimo Introvigne, Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR). "The ceremony to inaugurate the Reverend and Mrs. Moon's third son, Hyun Jin Moon, as vice president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International (FFWPUI) on July 19, 1998, as well as his responsibility to educate the 'second generation,' denotes him as the successor." An expanded version of this paper is part of Massimo Introvigne’s book The Unification Church, to be published in the series "Studies in Contemporary Religion" by Signature Books.
  4. ^ An introduction to Unificationism (Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church) including both support and criticism from current and former Unificationists.
  5. ^ Dan Fefferman, "The Victory of (All You Need is) Love," Currents: A Journal of Unificationist Thought and Culture," Vol. 3, No. 3, Summer 1992, p.14.
  6. ^ Hyun Jin Moon, "True Parents Tradition," Unification Church of Washington, D.C., May 17, 1992.
  7. ^ Dan Fefferman, "The Victory of (All You Need is) Love," Currents: A Journal of Unificationist Thought and Culture," Vol. 3, No. 3, Summer 1992, p.14.

[edit] External links